Lighter with guide arrangement



June 20, P RABE LIGHTER WITH GUIDE ARRANGEMENT Filed Feb. 4, 1965 Fig. I

LIGHTER HOUSING LIGHTER HOUSING Inventor.- PQJi' Kwbg,

3,326,019 LIGHTER WITH GUIDE ARRANGEMENT Peter Rahe, Muhlheim am Main,Germany, assignor to Heinrich Maltner G.in.b.H., @fienbach am Main,Germany Filed Feb. 4, 1%5, Ser. No. 430,444] Claims priority,application Germany, Feb. 14, 1964, M 59,918 13 Claims. (Cl. 57-4) Thepresent invention relates to a lighter with a guide arrangement for amanually operated member, such as a pushbutton for operating thelighter.

It is necessary to guide a stem or corresponding guide means of amanually operated member in a corresponding guide means on the lighterhousing. In constructions according to the prior art, a cylindrical stemis secured to the manually operated member and guided in a cylindricalsleeve secured to the lighter housing. During operation, the cylindricalstem slides in axial direction in the sleeve in a telescopic manner.However, this conventional guide arrangement is unsuitable for theparticular requirements of a manually operated member for a lighter. Theguide means are comparatively small, and since the pushbutton is notalways engaged and operated exactly in the area of the guide stem, theguide stern assumes a slanted position in the guide sleeve causing theengagement between the stem and the sleeve only at two edges on whichsubstantial pressure is exerted whereby the friction is increased. Sinceonly two small areas are in sliding engagement, they are soon worn,causing further angular displacements and binding and jamming of themanually operated member.

It is one object of the invention to overcome these disadvantages ofprior art constructions, and to provide a lighter with a guidearrangement for a manually operated member which is subject topractically no wear, and operates at very low friction even when dustenters the guide arrangement.

It is another object of the invention to guide a manually operatedmember in a guide on the lighter housing in such a manner that no partsslide on each other.

It is another object of the invention to obtain perfect guidance of amanually operated member in a guide part on the lighter housing even ifeccentric manual pressure tends to place the manually operated member ina slanted position.

It is another object of the invention to provide lighter with a guidearrangement including rollers, and which is easily assembled.

With these objects in view, the present invention relates to a lighterwith a guide arrangement for a manually operated member, such a apushbutton for actuating the lighter. One embodiment of the inventioncomprises the lighter housing, a first guide means secured to thehousing; a manually operated member including a second guide meanscoextensive with the first guide means; and at least two roller meansmounted on one of the guide means spaced from each other and being inrolling contact with the other guide means.

In one construction according to the invention, two pairs of rollers aremounted on the guide means on the lighter housing, and are in rollingengagement with opposite guide faces of a guide plate which is securedto a pushbutton member.

In another embodiment of the invention two rollers are mounted on theguide means of the manually operated member and cooperate with oppositeguide faces provided on the lighter housing. The manual-1y operatedmember is tiltable, and only one of the rollers is in rolling contactwith each of the guide faces.

tates atent C 3,32%,d-l9 Patented June 29, 1967 Due to the fact that themanually operated member is guided by spaced rollers, the guide meansare not in sliding engagement, but lateral forces are transmitted at twospaced regions of the guide means where rolling friction is produced.Further-more, dust entering the guide means drop easily between thespaced rollers and guide means without increasing the friction as is thecase when dust enters between guide faces in sliding engagement. Thiseffect is particularly improved, if each roller has two end portions ofgreater diameter and a central connecting portion of smaller diameter,so that dust is dropped between the connecting portion and the guideface engaged by the roller end portions. The roller end portions may becylindrical, but they can also be made substantially spherical, orfrustoconical of reduced diameter toward the central portion, so thatthe roller end portions engage only a point of the guide face whilerolling thereon. Since friction is practically eliminated by theconstruction of the invention, the entire manual force is used forcompressing a spring which acts on the manually operated member when theigniting mechanism of the lighter is actuated.

In one embodiment of the invention two pairs of rollers are mounted inopen cutouts in opposite walls of the guide means on the lighterhousing, permitting a very easy assembly since the rollers are held inplace by a guide plate secured to the manually operated member andlocated between the rollers of each pair.

In the other embodiment of the invention, in which the rollers aremounted on a guide plate secured to the manually operated member, onlytwo rollers are provided so that eccentric pressure on the pushbuttonurges each roller against the respective guide face.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together With additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, illustrating oneembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line AA in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation illustrating a modified detail ofthe embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating another embodimentof the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 to 3, amanually operated member 1 has a U-shaped cross section and a topsurface adapted to be engaged by the finger of an operator. A guidemeans in the form of a plate 2 is secured to the yoke portion of member)1 by a bent portion and a pair of rivets. A wall 3 of the lighterhousing has an opening in which a guide means in the form of a U-shapedelongated member 4 is secured. As best seen in FIG. 2, guide means 4 hastwo opposite walls forming the legs of the U-shape, and a connectingyoke portion. Plate 2 is located between the leg wall portions of guidemember 4 and extends substantially parallel to the yoke portion. Theedges at the upper ends of the opposite walls are formed withsubstantially rectangular cutouts 4a. Near the other end of guide means4, two opposite substantially rectangular cutouts 4b are provided in theopposite walls 4-. Cutouts 4b are open at the longitudinal edges of thewalls 4.

A pair of rollers 5 are mounted in cutout 4a, and another pair ofrollers 6 is mounted in cutout 4b. Each roller has shaft end portionsresting on the edges of cutouts 4a and 4b, respectively, a pair ofroller portions 7 of greater diameter, and a central connecting portion8, as shown in FIG. 2. Guide plate 2 has guide faces Zn on oppositesides thereof and is located between the rollers of each pair. Thethickness of guide plate 2 is selected so that the shaft end portions 9are urged into the corners of cutouts 4a and 4b which have acorresponding part circular shape. A spring, not shown, similar tospring 21 in FIG. 4, urges member 1 away from member 4 until atransverse pin 13 at the lower end of guide plate 2 abuts member '4.When member 1 is manually depressed, guide plate 2 moves downward whilerollers S and 6, and more particularly the roller end portions 7 roll onthe guide faces 2a of guide plate 2.

The assembly is extremely simple, since rollers 5 are simply placed onthe straight edge portion of cutout 4a and rollers 6 are insertedthrough the open portion 12 into cutout 4b and also placed on the lowerplate edge thereof. The rollers may be in the position as shown in FIG.3, but when guide plate 2 is inserted between the roller end portion 7,the rollers assume the correct position illustrated in FIG. 1 forguiding guide plate 2 whereby the manually operated member 1 is held inthe desired position.

It will be seen that irrespective of which part of member 1 is subjectedto manual pressure, the guide plate 2 and thereby member 1 will beguided by the spaced pairs of rollers without jamming or binding. Dustentering the interior of the guide member 4 will drop between guideplate 2 and the connecting portions 8 of the rollers, as best seen inFIG. 2. The distance of movement of the manually operated member 1, 2 isindicated by the arrow a at the lower end of FIG. 1.

In the modified construction shown in FIG. 3, all parts are the same asdescribed with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, but cutouts 4a and 4b areformed with semicircular edge portions 10 whose diameter corresponds tothe diameter of the shaft end portions 9 of the rollers. When guideplate 2 is located between the roller portions 7, the shaft end portions9 of the rollers are located in the semicircular bearings formed by theedge portions 10, so that they cannot be raised during the upwardmovement of guide plate 2.

The roller end portions 7 are shown to be cylindrical in FIG. 2, but maybe replaced by spherical or ball-shaped roller portions so that onlyline engagement between the guide faces 2a and the roller end portion '7takes place during movement of the manually operated member 1 with guideplate 2. Ball-shaped roller end portions leave even more room for thedropping of dust entering the interior of guide means 4. It will beappreciated that pyrophoric lighters produce dust since the spark wheelabrades the flint.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4, a guide means 18 is secured to the wall ofthe lighter housing, wall 3 being omitted in FIG. 4 for the sake ofsimplicity. A manually operated member 14 has a guide means in the formof a guide plate 15 secured thereto. Guide plate 15 is located betweenopposite guide surfaces 19 and on opposite walls of guide means 18. Aspring 21 abuts manually operated member 14 and guide means 18 to urgemember 14 away from member 118 until a transverse stop pin 22 abuts thelower end of guide means 18.

Guide plate 15 is formed with two spaced bearing bores 15a in whichcentral connecting journal portions of rollers 16 and 17 are mounted forturning movement. Rollers 16 and 17 have at the ends thereof roller endportions of greater diameter which are adapted to engage guide faces 19and 20 in rolling engagement. When eccentric pressure is exerted onmember 14 at the point indicated by the arrow P, spring 21 is depressed,and guide plate 15 assumes the tilted position shown in FIG. 4 in whichthe roller end portions of roller 16 roll on guide face 24), while theroller end portions of roller :17 roll on guide face 19. If pressure isexerted in the region of the arrow P, guide plate 15' is tilted in theopposite direction, and roller 16 rolls on guide face 19 while roller 17rolls on guide face 20. Irrespective of the point where manual pressureis exerted, the manually operated member 14, 15 is guided by rollingengagement of only two rollers at a very low resistance, and a jammingor binding is impossible. Due to the wide spaces between the rollers andthe guide faces, dust can easily drop through the interior of guidemeans 18 without causingany disturbance or increase of friction. In theembodiment of FIG. 4, guide means 15 is not necessarily a plate, but maybe a cylindrical pin. The roller end portions may be frusto-conical toassure line engagement between the roller end portions and the guidefaces 19 and 20.

It will be understood that. each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also finda useful application in other types ofguide arrangements for manually operated members differing from thetypes described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in anarrangement for guiding a manually operated member in a lighter housingby means of rollers, it is not intended to be limited to the detailsshown, since various modifications and structural changes may be madewithout departing, in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this inventionand, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a lighter, in combination, a lighter housing; a first guide meanssecured to said lighter housing; a manually operated member including asecond guide means coextensive with said first guide means and havingtwo opposite guide faces; and two pairs of rollers mounted on said firstguide means spaced from each other, the rollers of each pair beinglocated on opposite sides of said second guide means and being inrolling contact with said guide faces of said second guide means.

2. In a lighter, in combination, a lighter housing; a first guide meansprovided on said lighter housing; a manually operated member including asecond guide means coextensive with said first guide means and havingtwo opposite guide faces; and two pairs of rollers mounted on said firstguide means spaced from each other, the rollers of each pair beinglocated on opposite sides of said second guide means and being inrolling contact with said guide faces of said second guide means, eachof said rollers having two end portions of greater diameter and acentral connecting port-ion of smaller diameter.

3. In a lighter, in combination, a lighter housing; a first guide meanssecured to said lighter housing and having two opposite walls, saidwalls being formed with two pairs of opposite cutouts bounded by edges;a manually operated member including a second guide means coextensivewith said first guide means and having two opposite guide faces; and twopairs of rollers, each roller having a pair of shaft end portionssupported on said edges of said cutouts, the rollers of each pair beinglocated on opposite sides of said second guide means and being inrolling contact with said guide faces of said second guide means, saidguide faces being spaced from each other such a distance that said endportions of said rollers are held in sliding engagement with said edgesof said cutouts.

4. In a lighter, in combination, a lighter housing; a first guide meanssecured to said lighter housing and having two opposite walls, saidwalls being formed with two including pairs of semicircular edgeportions; a manually operated member including a second guide meanscoextensive with said first guide means and having two opposite guidefaces; and two pairs of rollers, each roller having shaft end portionslocated in said cutouts in one of said semicircular edge portions, therollers of each pair being located on opposite sides of said secondguide means and being in rolling contact with said guide faces of saidsecond guide means, said guide faces being spaced from each other such adistance that said shaft end portions are held in said semicircular edgeportions slidingly movable therein.

5. An arrangement as set forth in claim 4 wherein each of said cutoutshas a straight edge portion transverse to said guide faces, and whereinsaid semicircular edge portions are located at the ends of said straightedge portion, said cutouts being open at the longitudinal edges of saidwalls to permit insertion of said rollers.

6. An arrangement as set forth in claim 5 wherein said opposite wallsare elongated and have edges; wherein one pair of said cutouts is ofsubstantially rectangular shape and formed in the edges at the end ofsaid walls, and wherein the other pair of cutouts open on lateral edgesof said walls to permit insertion of said rollers.

7. In a lighter, in combination, a lighter housing; a first guide meanssecured to said lighter housing and having two opposite elongated guidefaces; a manually operated member including a second guide means locatedbetween said guide faces; and two roller means mounted on said secondguide means spaced from each other between said guide faces and inrolling contact with the same.

8. In a lighter, in combination, .a lighter housing; a first guide meanssecured to said lighter housing and having two opposite elongated guidefaces; a manually operated member including a second guide means locatedbe tween said guide faces; and two roller means mounted on said secondguide means spaced from each other between said guide faces and inrolling contact with the same, the diameter of said roller means beingless than the distance between said opposite guide faces so that one ofsaid roller means is in rolling contact with one of said guide faces andthe other roller means is in rolling contact with the other of saidguide faces.

9. In a lighter, in combination, a lighter housing; a first guide meanssecured to said lighter housing and having two opposite elongated guidefaces; a manually operated member including a second guide means locatedbetween said guide faces; and two roller means mounted on said secondguide means spaced from each other between said guide faces and inrolling contact with the same, each of said roller means having a pairof end portions of greater diameter in rolling contact with one of saidguide faces and a central connecting portion of smaller diameter.

10. A lighter arrangement as set forth in claim 9 wherein said secondguide means is an elongated plate formed with two bearing bores alongthe length thereof; and wherein each of said roller means includes apair of roller end portions of greater diameter, and a centralconnecting portion, said central connecting portion being turnablysupported in said bearing bores, and said roller end portions beinglocated on opposite sides of said plate projecting from the same.

11. In a lighter, in combination, a lighter housing; a first guide meanssecured to said lighter housing and having two opposite elongated guidefaces; a manually operated member including a second guide means locatedbetween said guide faces and a stop member cooperating with an abutmenton said first guide means; spring means abutting said first guide meansand said manually operated member and urging the latter into a positionin which said stop means abuts said first guide means and limitsmovement of said manually operated member; and two roller means mountedon said second guide means spaced from each other between said guidefaces and in rolling contact with the same, each of said roller meanshaving a pair of end portions of greater diameter in rolling contactwith one of said guide faces and a central connecting portion of smallerdiameter.

12. In a lighter, in combination, a lighter housing; a first guide meanssecured to said lighter housing; a manually operated member including asecond guide means adjacent to said first guide means and having twoopposite guide faces; and two sets of rollers mounted on said firstguide means spaced from each other, the rollers of each set beinglocated on opposite sides of said second guide means and being inrolling contact with said guide faces of said second guide means.

13. In a lighter, in combination, a lighter housing; a first guide meansprovided on said lighter housing; and an elongated manually operatedmember including a second guide means adjacent to said first guidemeans, one of said guide means having two opposite guide faces and theother of said guide means including two rollers spaced in longitudinaldirection of said manually operable member and each engaging one of saidopposite guide faces of said one guide means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,594,631 4/1952 Fortin 677.13,116,622 1/1964 Goddard et al 67-7.1

FOREIGN PATENTS 731,788 5/1932 France.

EDWARD J. MICHAEL, Primary Examiner.

1. IN A LIGHTER, IN COMBINATION, A LIGHTER HOUSING; A FIRST GUIDE MEANSSECURED TO SAID LIGHTER HOUSING; A MANUALLY OPERATED MEMBER INCLUDING ASECOND GUIDE MEANS COEXTENSIVE WITH SAID FIRST GUIDE MEANS AND HAVINGTWO OPPOSITE GUIDE FACES; AND TWO PAIRS IF ROLLERS MOUNTED ON SAID FIRSTGUIDE MEANS SPACED FROM EACH OTHER, THE ROLLERS OF EACH PAIR BEINGLOCATED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID SECOND GUIDE MEANS AND BEING ROLLINGCONTACT WITH SAID GUIDE FACES OF SAID SECOND GUIDE MEANS.